Bobbin transfer feeler



y 1931. H. M. JEFFREY 1 1,805,548

BOBBIN TRANSFER FEELER Filed Aug. 29, 1927 zsheets-sheet l I N VEN TOR.

ATTORNEY.

M y 1931. H.' M. JEFFREY 1,805,548

BOBBIN TRANSFER FEELER Filed Aug. 29, 1927 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

' ATTORNEY I Patented 'May l9, 1931 erase sr TION coaroaerrcn, newest seems; I j

HAROLD 1a. Jarret-Y; sensations-i eratesaciiusn'rrs," ASSIGNOR r0 serum. rnorricsaonusnrrsye cenronarron or Massecnu- :BOBBlN r-nensrnn FEELER Application August 2-9, 1312?. Serial Noififi fll.

This invention relates totransfer mechanismfor automatic looms of the type wherein when the" thread'onthe bobbin is almost exhausted, the empty or nearly empty bobbin 5 is forcedout of the shuttle by the'fullbobbin which is forced into its place "in the aws of the shuttleby suitable mechanism.

c There are severaltypes of looms and there are several types of feel er mechanism both 19 well known. The purpose of the feeler is to come in contact with the thread on the bobbin every timethe lay beats up or every other? time, and'when-the thread has run offto a pre-determined amount this feeler actsin a somewhat different manner a and indicates transfer which means setting in operations train of mechanism to malze'the transferof bobbins usually at the next beat' up;

V This inventionrelates to the feeler -finger; and the sl de which carries it.

f I provide a 'feeler slideslidable on the breast beam inadirection corresponding withthe movement of the lay beam and having a slide spring adapted to normally keep the]; slide towards the lay beam and a feeler finger. preferably made of fiber, pivoted at one end I to the .slideand having on its free endv at one side a smooth rounded heel, and on the other side one or more teeth which, while thereis a certain amount of thread onthe bobbin, keep it from slipping or pivoting sideways, but when'the thread has-been exhausted to a predeterminedamountwill slip sideways on the bare barrel of the bobbin.

fhe finger is so pivoted that a line which passes through its'pivot in the salne'direction' as the movement of the lay beam will pass 7 back of thef'ront tooth. WVith this arrange-V ,i ment, when thereis enough, thread on the sideways, it will forcejback theslide with the lay beambut when the amount is sufficiently reduced, it will slip sideways. v

the side-swipe type but my tain advantages.

The slideand its accompa ying, parts are very much simplified and canbe coupled up to the other parts ofglooms of various types bobbin to preve-nt the finger from moving There arecertain types of feelers known as device has cerin sucha way as to reduce the amount of mechanlsm.

Where sharp metal teeth are used onac feeler finger, they have a tendency to scratch and injure the bobbin, which is highly objec tionable especially with fine silk or rayon.

j 'f-jl so form the tip ofmy feeler finger that when in contact therewith as they either move directly back with it or when the fingerpivotsythehteethas they swing, recede from the lay beam bringing the smooth heel alonein contact therewith. a 1

t i To still further improve the device I prefer to make it ofhard fiber.

they; must be wound very hard and close on the bobbin. andI have found that any feelersdevice which to! operate must penetrate the yarn package will quicklycut the threads and operate improperly.

unless the reuse tipiis somade that it will full bobbin to be ejected.

my feelerin a peculiar form, I avoid both of theabove'objections. I

Inithe drawings, Fig. l is a side elevation showing part of a lay beam in section and my device applied to a welllrnown type of automatic loom lrnown in. the trade as a Draper loom.

Fig.2 'is a fragmentary perspective view the. same type of loom with my f {of parts of device attached. V 1 y Fig. 7 3 is a plan view showing some of the parts such as are shown inFig. 1.

showing ,partj-of the slide and my fee lei the teeth cannot" scratch the bobbin even,

not slip,'it will pivot too soon and cause a- By makingthe tip or contacting end of finger in contact with'a bobbin. "The rail; lines show the positionofthe feeler and slide i when. pushed back" by the advancing lay .t 7 Q5) r Sill; and rayon are of such character that 7011 the other hand on such yarn packages Fig. 4 ishan enlarged planfdetail view,

Fig. 6 shows my device applied to the o posite side of a loom, of the type shown in Iigs. 1, 2 and 3.

F i". 7 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing my device applied to another type of automatic loom.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged elevation partly in section, showing the pivot end of my feeler.

In the drawings, I show only such parts of automatic or bobbin changing looms as seem necessary to, understand the device.

In Fig. 2, 40 represents the breast beam forming part of the frame of what is known as a Draper loom which carries a battery, not shown, filled with full bobbins 18 in the usual manner.

To it is pivoted at 120 the transfer hammer 20 which has the usual heads or other suitable devices 220 for forcing a full bobbin such as 18 out of the battery and pushing down through the shuttle 22 an empty bobbin or almost empty bobbin 17. This transfer hammer also has an operating arm 320 which extends downward as shown, and to this is pivoted at 420 a transfer dog 0 which automatically is held up by a tension spring 12 so that its nose 6A will normally be in position so that the dagger 8 carried by the lay beam 21 would normally engage it and as its upward pivotal movement is limited by stop 1.12, the forward motion of the lay beam will force back arm 320 and therefore downward the head 220 if the dog 6 or itsnose 6A is not moved out'of the way of dagger 8.

A represents a detector bed which is usually pivoted to the breast beam at 1 and either held rigidly as by a set screw 24 or normally held down by a tension spring 19. The above parts are all substantially old.

B is a detector slide slidable in or on detector bed A in suitable ways in a direction substantially perpendicular to the lay beam 21 but preferably directed in line with its forward and back movement. This slide when moved back projects and will move back or forward toward the front of the loom, and is shown as extending beyond detector bed A and as being provided with a returning spring 5 which normally pushes it towards the lay beam. It also has a downwardly pro jecting arm 100 from which horizontally pro- 'jects a slide stud 14 which passes through a loop 13 in connecting rod F to bedescribed. There is also an adjusting screw 10 by which the position of slide B can be more or less regulated. I

The other end 113 of connecting rod F is pivoted at 16 to a stud on one side of dog 6 which is preferably a greater distance from the center of the hammer pivot 120 than is the center of the pivot 420 for the dog itself so that as the dog and arm 320 move back this connecting rod will move over a greater are than the nose 6A as indicated by the arcs shown in Fig. 1.

At the side of the loom opposite battery 41 is a shuttle binder 26 of any usual form adapted to be pushed somewhat out when the shuttle enters the box on that side, and G represents broadly the connection between this side of the loom and dog 6. As shown, shuttle binder 26 is pivoted at 126 to lay beam 21 and against this bears an arm 25 adjustably fixed to a rod 124 which extends across the loom, being carried in suitable hangers 224 on breast beam 40 and having at its battery end an arm 11 of bifurcated form having a slot 111 into which passes a stud or roller 15 which projects from dog 6 on the opposite side from stud 16.

It will be seen that when connecting rod F is pushed toward the front of the loom, or when shuttle binder 26 is pushed in that direction by the entry of a shuttle, in either case dog 6 will be pulled down on its pivot 420 so that its nose 6A will be out of the way of dagger 8. Shuttle binder 26 will act on each alternate pick and I will now describe my detector device on the side of the battery.

C represents a detector finger pivoted at one end on pivot 101 to the end of slide B which is next to the lay beam, and this has a shoulder 1.02 on what I willcall the inside of the loom which is the side where the heads such as 118 of the bobbins are positioned in the magazine or battery. Its free end 107 curves away from the inside or from the head of the bobbin when in position away from the center of the loom, and this end is provided on the side next such heads with a smooth, rounded. heel 10 1, and outside of such heel, that is away from the center of the loom, there are one or more teeth 103, 203, 303.

This end of the feeler or detector finger 0 should be carefully made so that one of these teeth 103 will engage the thread such as K if there is any on the bobbin but when they come in contact with a place where there is no thread K or where it is very thin, as at 170, the tooth 103 will slip away from the head of the bobbin with a result to be described.

Each finger C has on the outside a shoulder 102 which by means of a coiled spring 4 is kept in adjusted contact with a stop 9 on slide B. The position of stop 9 can be regulated by a screw 109 so that as shown in Fig. 4, the contact point of finger C which is ordinarily the front and longest of the teeth 103 will engage the thread K on the bobbin and so that as the lay beam advances, this thread will prevent the finger C from doubling up or bending toward the outside of the loom and away from the bobbin head 118 but will force before it, finger C and slide B carrying with them the connecting rod F and depressing dog- 6.

This occurs at every alternate pick until the amount of thread K is reduced to such a point, as indicated at 170, on the bobbin that, as teeth 103, 203, 303, find nothing to stop p to tion of means G at the other side ofthe loom to pull the dog out of position on the alternate picks.

On looms where the detector mechanism is on the side opposite the battery, it is not necessary to remove the feeler tip or feeler finger from contact with the nearly empty bobbin because the transfer is not made until the shuttle returns to the battery side of the loom.

With this device however it is necessary-to move the detector finger out of the way of the entering full bobbin or it'would be in danger of breakage. I accomplishthis by positioning the pivot point 16 of'connecting rod F and slide stud 14c farther from pivot 120 of the transfer hammer than pivot point420 of the dog and farther than the dog nose BA from 120 so that when the dagger 8 begins to force back the dog 6, on account of the greater radius, the slide B and finger C move a greater distance than the dagger 8 moves and the'free end or'tip 107 is therefore'pulled out of the way of the incoming full bobbin. This relation is shown by the arcs X and Y in Fig. 1. v

The parts shown and described particularly in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 are shown and claimed in 1 my copending appllcation on transfer mechanism for looms filed Sept; 17, 1927, Ser. No. 220,1a3, Patent No. 1,781,514. The feeler fin ger which is also shown andvwhich I will.

now.clcscribe more particularly can also be :1- used howeverin other places and with other types of looms.

Preferably the feeler finger C is very care fully made of hard fiber and carefully adjusted so that a line such as shown. in the long dashes O of Fig. i passingthroug'h pivot 101 in the same direction as the movement of the'lay beam will pass back of the front which barrel of a bobbin as shown in Fig. 4; or is curved and blunt as shown in Fig. 5. It is so made in order that it will not cut: the finest yarn even when it strikes in the same place on the yarn mass at every pick. By so mak ing this contact tooth, it isunnecessary to use the intermittent action usedwvith some.

feelers as for instance that shown in patent to Landry No. 1,420,560, June 20, 192 2. i

, These parts should be so adjusted that the front end of each tooth 103, 203, 303, will engage some of the fine threads 180 but -willnot dig into the wood of thebobbin, while they following teeth are positioned slightly. farther away from the bobbin so that whenfeeL er finger-C does pivot at 101 theteeth will swing away from the bobbin 1'? as shown by thecarcs T, S and R.

.By making the front or longest tooth 103 .fiat faced or blunt and by adjusting the angle between it and line 0 with reference to pivot 101 tobe very acute, or to put it in another way, to make the line from 103 to 101 a very' littleoff center and by making the feeler return spring 4 very weak as by adjustment through set. screw 100 shown in Fig. 8, the feeler finger C does not slip sideways untilit strikes the bare wood and as the other teeth 203 and 303 are .set'well back therefrom, when the finger C pivots, these other teeth scarcely touch the wood'or if they do touch itat all, it is at the left of where 103 struck.

Onthe other hand however, if there is any:

it sideways before it should move.

These factors of the flat or blunt face of the long tootha'nd the other teeth being relatively sharper but set well back therefrom,

the adjustment slightly off center and especially making the finger of thefiber all contribute'to prevent scratching of the bobbin and accurate functioning with a minimum of waste.

In Fig. 6, Ishow my feeler mechanism applied to the side of a Draper loom whichis opposite from the magazine in place of any of the various feeler devicesnow used on that type of loom.

21 is the lay beam and 18 represents a full bobbinin a shuttle which is held in position by the usual shuttle'binder such as while 51 is a bracket which is bolted to the breast beam indicated by 40, which bracket carries the detector bed 52 which is substantially similar to A and carries slidably the detector slide B, which in turnfcarries the feeler finger C.

"Detector bed '52 also has an ear 53 with a bearing through which is slidable arod 54 which extends'across the loom and connects with the regular transfer mechanism on the battery side in a well known manner. This ear 53 is in position-a little closer to thelay beam, than pivot 101 so that when finger C bends over or pivots away from the head of the bobbin 18 it pushes rod 54, and as it is expressed indicates transfer.

In Fig. 7, show part of what'is known as a Crompton and Knowles loom or loom of the type in which the transfer hammer such as is operated by other means connected with the magazine, generally known as a lifting rod or actuator.

In this case, 61 is the breast beam and 62 the lay beam while the full bobbin is indicated by 18 as before.

The detector bed A is the same as in the first described construction is also the slide B and finger C.

The back end of the sli le when it is moved back is in position to eng a lever arm 68 which is moved backward at every alternate pick until transfer is to be indicated, at which time finger C doubles up, and as 63 is not moved, the train or mechanisn'i which is well known see patent to llyon en weft replenishing loom, No. 972,722, of Oct. 11, 1910, and which it is not necessary to show, is started in operation to actuate hammer 60 and transfer the bobbins.

lVhen this starts to occur, as the feeler is in the shuttle slot, it is n v to move the finger out of the slot in ti ill he ti l before the hammer descends upon the bobbin, as otherwise there would be a smash up.

I accomplish this by t" e pin 65 on the arm 60 of the trai zer inner and by placing in position on slide B a stud 67 which pin 65 engages as the transfer hammer is coming down at the time transfer, thus moving back slide B and finger C, and avoiding any smash up.

Preferably I cut the contact end or tip 107 as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 from 104 to 204: on a parabolic or elliptical curve oron an arc the focus or cenre of which is at a point such as generally indicated at V which is in front of a straight line through pivot 101 in the direction of the movement of the lay beam and is located in the direction in which the feeler pivots. By focus I include the centre of a circle.

This curve normally rises back away from the bobbin and the teeth 103, 203 and 803 are cut so that their front faces are at right angles to the bobbin or rake or hook slightly forward and their points successively recede from the forward tooth.

Thereby, whatever wear there is will not dull the teeth. Moreover when tooth'103 touches a bare spot on the bobbin, and the feeler starts to turn on a bobbin having a universal cone wind, tooth 203 engages the yarn and then tooth 303 or on a smooth, hard silk or rayon yarn package, as the feeler starts to turn, all three teeth will eng and stop it until they all engage a bare spot on the bobbin.

My slide return spring 5 should be a little stronger than feeler return spring 4 but both can be very weak as it. is not necessary to force the feeler teeth between nor into the yarn package and this reduces any tendency to cut the yarn even'if a steel feeler is used.

My whole feeler can be adjusted laterally or cross-wise and also circumferentially on the breast beam at 1 by means of the set screw 24 and the longitudinal or forward and back position of slide B ca be regulated by adjusting screw 10 whereby the position of contact of the feeler finger tip with the yarn on the bobbin and the extent of movement of slide B can be regulated.

The angular relation between the front tooth, the pivot 101 and the line of movement 0 can be adjusted by means of the stop 9' and stop screw 109 while the strength of the feelerreturn spring 4 can be regulated by head. 200 which holds the end 207 of spring 4, the other end 208 engaging feeler finger C as shown in Fig. 8, together with the set screw 100 which passes through this head and engages the pivot post- 101.

I claim:

1. In a filling changing device for auto matic looms having a lay beam and a battery on the breast beam, the combination with a slide movable on the breast beam towards and from the lay beam in the same direction as the movement of the lay beam, and having an adjustable detector finger stop, and a spring adapted to move the slide towards the lay beam; of a fiber feeler finger having a shoulder on the side away from the battery in engagement with said stop and having its free end formed with a smooth rounded heel on the side of the shoulder and teeth on the other side thereof the front tooth being the longest, said finger being so pivoted to the slide that a straight line through the pivot in the direction. of the movement of the lay beam passes back of the front tooth so that when the finger moves on its pivot away from the stop, the teeth, will recede from the lay beam; and a feeler return spring. a

2. In a filling changing device for automatic looms, the combination with a slide movable on the breast beam towards and from the lay beam in the same direction as the movement of the lay beam, and having a detector finger st0p,and a spring adapted to move the slide towards the lay beam; of a fiber feeler finger having a shoulder in engagement with said stop and having its free end formed with a smooth rounded heel on the side of theshoulder and teeth on the other side thereof the front tooth being the longest, said finger being so pivoted to the slide that a straight line through its pivot in the direction of the movement of the lay beam passes back of the front tooth so that when the finger moves on its pivot away from the stop, the teeth will recede from the lay beam; and a feeler return spring.

3. In a filling changing device for automatic looms, the combination with a slide movable on the breast beam towards and from the lay beam in the same direction as the movement of the lay beam, and a spring adapted to move the slide towards the lay beam; of a fiber feeler finger havingits free [its pivot in the direction of the movement of the lay beam passes back of the front tooth so that when the finger moves on its pivot away from the stop, the teeth will recede from the lay beam; .and a feeler return spring.

4. In a filling changing device for automatic looms, the combination with a slide movable on the breast beam towards and from the lay beam in the same direction as the movementof the .lay beam, and a spring adapted to move the slide towards the lay beam; of a fiber feeler finger having its free end adapted to engage a bobbin carried in a shuttle on the lay beam having a' smooth rounded heel on the side towards the bobbin head and teeth on the other side thereof the front tooth being the longest, said finger being so pivoted to and held on the slide that a straight line through its pivot in the direction of the movement of the lay beam passes back of the front tooth so that when the finger moves on its pivot away from the stop, the teethwill recede from the lay beam; anda feeler return spring.

5. In a filling changing device for automatic looms, the combination with a slide movable on the breast beam towards and from the lay beam in the same direction as the movement of the lay beam;.of a feeler finger having its free end adapted to engagea v bobbin carried in a shuttle on the lay beam line and having teeth out out of the curved the movement of the lay beam; of a feeler and being movableon a pivot near its other end fixed on said. slide, and cut at said free 1 end on a .curve the focus of which is in front of a straight line drawn through saidpivot in the direction of the movement of the lay.

beam, such curve extending in front of said part which rake away from said line and which have their points successively receding from the forward tooth 6. In a filling changing device for automatic looms, the combination with a slide movable on the breast, beam towards and from the lay beam in the same direction as finger having its freeend adapted to engage a bobbin carried in a shuttleon'the lay beam and being-movable on a pivot near its other end fixed on, said slide, and cut at said free end on a curve the focus of which is in front of a straight line drawn through said pivot in the direction of the movement of the lay beam, such curve extending in front of said line and having teeth out out of the curved 7 part. v

7. A feeler finger having near one end a pivot and havlng itsother end cut on acurve the focus of which is at a point different from said pivot and having teeth out out of the curved part and successively recedingfrom the end, the tooth nearest the end being blunt. 8.v A feelervfinger having at one; end a pivot {and having its otherend-ncut on a curve the foeu's rof which is at a point difi'erent from said pivotand', having teeth out out'of the curved part, the tooth'nearest the tip being blunt and the others relatively sharp.

;9.' A'fiber feeler finger fhaving near one end a pivot and proximate said pivot an adfrom the lay beam in the same'direction as the movement of the lay beam, and a spring adapted to move the slide toward the lay beam; of a fiber feeler finger having its free end adapted to engage a bobbin carried in the shuttle on the lay beam and having a smooth rounded heel on the side towards the bobbin head and teeth on the other side thereof the end tooth being the longest and being blunt,

said finger being so pivoted to and held on in the direction of the movement of the lay beam passes back of the end tooth so that whenthe finger moves on its pivot away from. the bobbin head the other teethwill recede from the lay-beam; means, carried by the slide to adjust the angle between the feeler:

finger and the slide; and a feele'r return spring.

119 In a filling changing device forautomatic looms, the combination with a slide movable on the breast beam towards and from the lay beam in the same directionv as adapted to move the slide towards the lay beam; of a fiber feeler finger having a free end which terminates ina blunt toothadapted to engage a bobbin carried in a shuttle on the lay beam and having a smooth rounded heel proximate said tooth on the side towards the bobbin head, said finger being so pivoted to and'held on the slide that a straight line through its pivot in the: direction of the movement of the lay beam passes back of the endtooth; means carried by the slide to ads just'the angle between the finger and the slide; a feeler return spring; and means to the slide that a straight line through its pivot themovement of the lay beam, and a spring,

adjust the strength of the feeler return spring.

12. Ina filling changing device. for auto-.

matic looms, the combination with a slide 'movable on the breast beamtowards and from the lay beam in the samedirection as the 'movement of the lay beam, and a spring adapted to move the slide towards the lay beam; of a fiber feeler'fingerhaving a free end h ch, e minates in a blunt tooth adapted to engage a bobbin carried in a shuttle on the lay beam and having a smooth rounded heel proximate said tooth on the side towards the bobbin head, said finger being so pivoted to and held on the slide that a straight line through its pivot in the direction of the movement of the lay beam passes back of the end tooth; means carried at its top by the slide to adjust the angle between the finger and the slide; a feeler return spring; and means carried at its top by the slide to adjust the strength of the feeler return spring.

- HAROLD M. JEFFREY. 

